The Little Vampire
by SlightlyOdd13
Summary: With lack of a better name, who knew there was a vampire at Kadic? Well, nobody did until now. Takes place during season 4, and also a continuation of one of my ficlets, Can you keep a secret. Hope you like it!
1. Can you keep a secret?

"Jeremie," Aelita began, sitting on his bed for the twelfth night in a row. It was late at night, and the only thing emitting light was the slightly eerie glow of the computer screen.

"Yes?" He replied, reeling around in his desk chair to face her.

"Do you ever get tired of working on William's materialization program?"

He sighed, "It doesn't really matter what I feel, I don't have much choice."

"Well you could at least take it easier on yourself, and actually get some sleep some nights," she suggested. "You look really pale in the mornings."

"Even if I could take a break from it, I wouldn't be able to sleep," Jeremie explained with a sigh.

"You don't have to feel guilty Jeremie, it wasn't your fault that he was captured by XANA." _It was probably more my fault than anyone else's_, Aelita thought.

"No, i-it's not that," he turned back to the glowing screen wih a sigh, "Never mind."

"What is it Jeremie? You know you can tell me anything," she assured him.

"You really mean that?"

"Absolutely."

He faced her wih a hopeful but usure look in his eyes. "D-do you trust me?"

She nodded.

"Then close your eyes." She immediately did.

Slowly, Jeremie slipped off his chair and crept across the room, sitting down next to Aelita on the bed. Timidly, he leaned in, and she could feel his breath on her neck.

Aelita suddenly felt a sharp pain in her throat, and she found it hard to breath. Her wide eyes were fluttering all around the room as she gasped for air. "Jeremie!"

He retreated cautiously, and that's when Aelita saw the blood, coating his lips and dripping from two pearly white fangs.

She stared, horror filling her eyes, unable to speak.

Jeremie looked guiltily at her, as if begging for forgiveness. "Can you keep a secret?"

• • •

Aelita moved back, barely daring to blink, and felt her neck. A warm, sticky liquid surrounded two small wounds. She looked down at her hand, and even in the lack of light she knew what it was. Blood.

She scrambled back until she could feel the wall against her back, still not taking her eyes off the boy before her.

"I'm sorry," he reached out a hand.

"Don't touch me!" She yelped, diving for the door and whipping into the hallway.

Jeremie started to go after her, rushing to the doorway, but stopping when he heard footsteps from the other end of the hall. Remembering the scene on his face, he quickly ducked back into his room.

Meanwhile, Aelita was sprinting down the hall, already out of breath due to her hyperventilation (and the two extra holes in her neck might have something to do with it too). She took the stairs two at a time and rounded the corner like a streak of light, flying up the next round of steps. As she sped down the hall, the world began to spin, and she felt lightheaded.

Stumbling more than anything, Aelita scrambled into her room, attacking the doorknob until she made sure it was securely locked. Only then did she take a breath.

Her head spun as she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. She couldn't think clearly, everything was clouded. Aelita dropped herself on the bed, and was almost instantly unconscious.

A/N:

I'm sorry everybody, for not updating for so long, but at least I'm back now right? I hope you'll enjoy this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. Btw: happy birthday code lyoko! XD Everybody celebrate for 10 years of the best show in existence!


	2. Between here and reality

A/N:

Thank you guys so much for the reviews (their my weak spot)! And of course, there is more coming. Fyi, I'm going to be updating everyday once a day with the new chapters (because I had to finish the story in order to finally decide on a name). And also, I just started a sequel, which I'm really excited about. Hope u guys enjoy it!

And on with the fic...

Six hours later Aelita awoke to a constant buzzing, coming from her alarm clock. She rolled over and clicked it off, groaning as she scratched her head.

Then her eyes widened and she remembered.

But maybe it was just a dream, there was no way it could be true.

Wait. She realized there was one way to find out.

Tentatively, she reached her hand up until it was just a few inches from her neck. Did she really want to know? After this there would be no going back. But she had to be sure.

She lifted her hand until it came in contact with smooth skin, but there was something else there too, something dried onto her neck. Then her fingers came across something that made her face turn pale. Two identical round scabs in the midst of the dried liquid.

It was all coming back to her now, memories, memories of last night. Jeremie, his dorm, they were working on the materialization project. Then Jeremie... Fangs. Blood. Pale. Jeremie.

Aelita snapped back into reality, hyperventilating with just the thought of it. Her eyes darted around wildly, she glanced at the bed, where a small patch of dark liquid stained the sheet.

She looked down at her hand. There was still blood there, blood from last night, dried on her fingertips.

Running to her desk, above which was hung a large mirror, she peered into it, angling her head around. It was true. They were there, two little holes. Jeremie really is a v—

A knock on the door snapped a nervous Aelita back into reality. Maybe it was him! Maybe he had come back to finish the job he had started!

She went to lock the door when she remembered it was already locked. Good. At least she hadn't lost her common sense yet. Now she just had to wait for him to go away. Those things couldn't come in unless they were invited in right? But just in case, she picked up her metal lamp from the bedside table and held it like a weapon.

Another couple knocks came to the door. "Hello? Aelita?" It was Milly's voice. "I just wanted to let you know that Sissi isn't up yet so the showers are free."

"O-ok, thanks Milly. I'll be right there," she replied, trying hard not to stutter, as she set the lamp back down.

"Ok, sorry if I woke you," she could hear footsteps meaning Milly had left.

Aelita exhaled a breath of relief, and tried to continue with a slightly calmer demeanor.

She went to one side of her room and picked up her water bottle to start unscrewing the lid. Then, she rushed to the other side of the dorm, picking up a little package of tissues and slipping one out. She wet the tissue before placing the cold, make-shift rag against her neck and rubbing gently.

In this way, she cleaned herself up, and stripped the bed, shoving the sheets into the very back of her closet, just in case.

Finally, she built up the courage to leave her room. Turning the door handle slowly and carefully, she poked her head out the door, looking both ways before scurring out and down the hall into the girl's washroom.

• • •

After thinking it over multiple times, Aelita decided a scarf would be a decent solution to her, complication.

So with a routine glance over her shoulder, she very cautiously made her way down to the courtyard to eat some breakfast.

Safely in the cafeteria a few minutes later, she sat down at a table with Ulrich and Odd. "Hey guys," she greeted.

"Good morning," Odd replied before scooping a large spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"Wow, you look like you've seen a ghost," Ulrich pointed out.

"Oh, um, yeah, I think I had a nightmare. It, er, really spooked me," Aelita replied, and started eating, although she didn't really have an appetite.

"Huh," said Ulrich. "Well don't worry, the worst terror you'll be facing today is probably just Mrs Hertz."

"Yeah, don't we have that quiz today? Odd reminded.

"Oh shoot, I knew I forgot about something," Ulrich frowned.

"How about you Aelita? Did you study?" Odd turned to her.

Just as she was about to answer, she saw someone enter the cafeteria and got shivers all up her spine. She was suddenly very anxious to end the conversation. "Uh, no, I mean yes. Here Odd, have mine," she pushed her tray to him but grabbed the half full cereal bowl and dumped it in the dirty dishes bin. "See you guys in class," Aelita said, as she exited out the further of the two cafeteria's doors, and sped into a run when she left the building.

Jeremie saw her as he entered of course, she was pretty hard to miss, but he only sighed and grabbed some food before sitting down beside Odd. "Hey," he said lamely.

"What's wrong with you?" Ulrich asked.

"Oh, nothing."

"What? Did you actually go to sleep last night? You're face has some colour to it this morning," Odd noticed.

Jeremie started blushing and dug into his bowl of cereal to distract both himself and the others.

Odd and Ulrich shrugged at each other and did the same.

• • •

Once Aelita was past the cafeteria, she began to slow down. For the moment, she was ok. Just catching her breath, and slowing her heartbeat, she spotted Yumi heading to the same place she had just escaped from. "Hey Yumi!" she flagged her friend down.

She waved back and approached Aelita. "Morning."

"Do you believe in mythical creatures?"

Yumi was slightly taken aback by the question, "What, you mean like ghosts and witches and ghouls?"

Aelita nodded.

"Um, I don't know, I guess so. My mom's really crazy about that stuff. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering, no big deal. See you later," Aelita started walking.

"Yeah, bye," Yumi soon entered the cafeteria and sat down with the boys with a shrug. For some reason, the world seemed to have turned upside-down completely over night.


	3. Friend or Undead?

Aelita sat in the classroom, trying to pay attention, but it wasn't working. All she could think of was what had happened, and she kept scratching her neck and adjusting her scarf. So much for being subtle.

Across the room, Jeremie couldn't keep his focus on the lesson either. He found his eyes being constantly drawn back to Aelita, who didn't dare look his way.

Most of the school day went on like this, and both Aelita and Jeremie didn't do a lot of socializing, with anyone, and not at all with each other.

Later that day, the remainder of he Lyoko gang were sitting at a picnic bench not to far away from Aelita, who was just walking by. She was probably heading back to her room, but the others didn't know that.

"Don't you think that's a little weird?" Yumi noticed the way Aelita looked over her shoulder as she walked.

"What?" Odd asked.

"The way Aelita's been avoiding Jeremie like the plague," She replied.

"Yeah, it's like she's afraid of him or something," Ulrich suggested.

Odd snorted, "Like that would ever happen."

"Thats true," Ulrich snickered.

• • •

Even later that day, Aelita decided to confront Jeremie. She needed to know what was really going on. The only way to get over it was to face her fears, so that night, Aelita came to his dorm.

She slipped in silently and closed the door behind her. Jeremie was sitting at the exact same spot at his desk, but when he heard the door close he reeled around. At the sight of her, he started getting up. "I can explain."

"No!" She said in a slightly panicked tone, which made him immediately freeze. After a deep breath she continued, "Just stay there." He sat back down.

"Listen, I just want to know what really happened last night. I know we were working on the materialization project, and then... I want a straight answer," she pulled away the scarf to expose the mark. "Did you bite me?"

Jeremie rubbed his forehead with a downcast gaze. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," he mumbled under his breath.

"Did you bite me?" She repeated, with a little more edge in her voice.

"Yes," He admitted. "But I can explain, please just let me—"

"So you really are a," she continued in a quieter tone, "vampire," it was more a statement of realization than a question.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you into this," He sighed, resting his head in his hands, "The world is just so messed up."

Aelita gazed at him with a confused look in her eye. I-it was Jeremie, the boy she had known for so long, the one she thought she knew everything about, and yet here he was, something she never expected him to be. Cautiously, she moved along the door. "Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked nimbly.

"No, no, go ahead," he replied, still caught up in troubling thoughts.

She sat down on the bed, and an uncertain silence enveloped the room. Aelita reconsidered being here, in a dorm with a vampire, but she wasn't feeling queasy yet. "I-I forgive you," She said quietly.

Jeremie lifted his head, looking Aelita in the eye curiously.

"I forgive you, for what you did yesterday," she finished.

Hope filled Jeremie's eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards, making a small smile. Then his fangs started extending.

Aelita saw this and moved back, into the wall, on instinct. "But please, don't ever do it again," she quickly added.

Jeremie realized the reason for her slight panick and quickly covered his mouth, turning away. "Sorry, I can't really control that," he explained. "It just kind of happens."

She nodded and glanced around the room. This made conversation a bit more awkward.

"Do you sleep in a coffin?"

He turned back to face her. "No, I'm not that kind. And I don't sparkle in the sunlight either."

"Is any of that stuff true?"

"Some of it," he nodded.

"Like what?" she started getting interested.

"Um, er... These glasses," he slipped them off, twirling them around in his hand. "My eyes are sensitive to sun light, so I have to wear these, but I can see perfectly well without them."

"At night," Aelita added.

"And anywhere not in direct sunlight," he nodded, slipping them back on. "And then there's also the pasty-white complexion, and, the fangs, and—"

"And the blood drinking," she finished.

"I don't know what happened to me yesterday. I just," he sighed again, "I'm sorry. It's been almost a year since the last time I did it, and I've been trying to stop, but, I guess I can't."

Aelita opened her mouth to say something else but then decided against it. Maybe it was better not to ask.

"What is it?" He asked.

"No, nothing," she assured.

"Please, no more secrets," Jeremie said. "Just between you and me, ok?"

She nodded meekly. "About the blood, does it taste good? I mean, to you?"

Jeremie's eyes averted down and to the side, as if reluctant to say.

"No secrets remember?" Aelita reminded.

He sighed another time and answered. "Yeah, it tastes good. But I still want to stop, I need to stop."

"What about mine?"

He held her gaze for a long time, knowing he couldn't answer that one.

What felt like an eternity later, he broke the silence. "It's late. You should probably get going, get some sleep." He got up to usher her out.

She quickly jumped to her feet, with scarf in hand, and opened the door. "Ok."

"Oh, I forgot," he kept his distance.

Aelita took a final glance at Jeremie with a little smile, and started down the dark hallway. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," the door closed with a subtle click.

As soon as she was gone, Jeremie rushed over to his closet and opened the drawer at the bottom. He pulled out a half-empty container and unscrewed the lid, quickly downing two small white pills.

• • •

In the hallway, Aelita took her time, feeling no pressure and no real rush. She had memories of yesterday night, when she had been running like her life depended on it, but not tonight.

When she finally reached her room, instead of hitting the hay, she sat down at her desk and fired up the computer. She intended on finding out more about what Jeremie really was.

A/N:

Thanks guys for the reviews! Sorry, this was uploaded really late in the day, I promise I'll do it earlier tomorrow. As always, I hope you like it, and constructive criticism is always appreciated.


	4. With a side of XANA

Today I introduced myself to a girl in my class who just transferred from France, and when I asked, she said she knew code lyoko! XD

On a more relevant note, I love the constructive criticism, and you're absolutely right, Muffins. You are my favourite person of the day (besides maybe my French classmate). But also, I am disappointed at the people who review offline when they have a perfectly good account. I can't reply to you that way! Cummon guys!

So anyways... On with the fic:

The next morning went rather more normally than the previous, which calmed everyone's nerves. Sissi didn't get up late so she didn't miss her chance at taking a shower, therefore Milly had no good news to tell Aelita, therefore she didn't go to Aelita's dorm, therefore Aelita didn't have a panick attack and pick up her lamp as self defense. But not everything was completely normal, either.

As Aelita left her dorm, she quickly wrapped the scarf around her neck, and skipped out of the dorm building. Today she ate breakfast by herself, which she didn't really mind 'cause she had gotten up early anyhow, and had only met her friends later, nearby the vending machines.

"Hey Aelita," Ulrich greeted.

"Good morning," she smiled.

"You look better, did you have a good sleep?" Asked Yumi.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well you may have had nothing to worry about last night, but what about me?" Odd protested.

"Oh yeah? What about you?" Ulrich asked, buying himself a pop from the machine.

"I had a date with Naomi yesterday," he made a noise like a bomb had exploded. "It was terrible."

"Why? What happened?" Asked Jeremie, approaching the gang.

"Good morning," Yumi waved.

"Morning," he replied,

"You would not believe, first I spilled some water on her completely by accident, then, just when she had forgiven me for that—"

"Oh boy here it comes," Yumi rolled her eyes.

"I _might_ have accidentally called her Heidi," Odd admitted.

"Oh," Aelita shook her head.

Ulrich laughed, "Slick."

Yumi turned to Aelita, "By the way, I meant to ask, you guys didn't have a fight did you?" she pointed at her and Jeremie.

"What? No," Aelita replied quickly.

"What ever gave you that idea?" Jeremie asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, we're the best of buddies," Aelita laughed nervously.

Yumi gave them a long look. "Well, ok. So long as you're not fighting or anything."

Just then the school bell rang.

"I gotta run, see you later," Yumi sped off with a wave.

Odd and Ulrich began wandering off to class too, leaving Aelita and Jeremie on the scene.

"That was close," Aelita mumbled.

"I've had closer calls before," Jeremie replied, but before they could follow the others to class, an insistent cell phone shook in Jeremie's pocket. "Uh-oh. XANA attack."

"You've got an app for that?" Aelita asked.

"Doesn't everybody?" he pressed a couple more buttons on the phone and brought it to his ear. "Yumi? Yeah, XANA's attacking."

Aelita didn't catch any more of the conversation because she started sprinting to warn Ulrich and Odd.

"Guys!" She called. "XANA attack. Jeremie's getting Yumi."

"Any sign of the attack?" Odd asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing yet."

"Then one of us should stay here," Ulrich reasoned.

Jeremie jogged over at that point. "Yumi said she would, she's already in class."

"But what about our class?" Odd reminded. "Mrs Hertz is lyable to get curious if all four of us are gone. All I'm saying is someone else has to stay and cover for the other three while they deactivate the tower."

Odd was met with three knowing stares. "Why me?"

"Because it was your idea," Jeremie reminded.

"And because you're the only one who can feed Mrs Hertz a believable excuse," Aelita said. "Please?"

He sighed. "Fine."

Watching the others run off, Odd turned around and bolted to the classroom. As if covering for them wasn't enough, he now also had to think up a decent excuse for being late.

Cringing before he entered, excpecting a scolding, Odd was surprised to find that the whole class had been tied up by a not so happy science teacher with electricity shooting from her fingertips. "Heh, ironic," Odd laugh to himself. "Lemmie guess, today's lesson was on electric currents right?"

Mrs Hertz spun around immediately, the XANA signs in her eyes flashing brightly.

"Look out Odd! She's possessed!" Sissi shrieked.

"I know. I'll come back for you guys if I can," Odd said quickly, and backing up. He took out his pocket knife and slid it across the floor to them. "Good luck!" he yelled, zipping out the door with mrs Hertz hot on his tail.

• • •

Lessons started in Yumi's classroom, but that's when her phone started buzzing. She answered it in a whisper. "Yeah?"

"YUUUUMIIIIIII!" Odd yelled so loudly that Yumi's hair was blown back on the other end.

She sighed, knowing she already had the attention of about half of her classmates. "This better be good."

"Mrs Hertz! She's XANAfied!" She could hear him panting in between sentences.

"On my way," Yumi put her cell away and glanced around for he best escape route.

"Miss Ishiyama, you do know that mobile phones must be turned off before entering class?" Mr Fumet official name btw, I'm not just making this up gave her a long look.

"Sorry sir, it might be a matter of life or death," she shrugged and got up, immediately sure of what she was doing. While Mr Fumet stood, befumled and in the middle of constructing a reply, Yumi turned to her left and charged to the wall, vaulting out the window. She took off down the path, just following the sound of Odd's girlish screams.

• • •

At the factory, Jeremie had just finished virtualizing the others when he got a call from Yumi.

"Any sign of the attack?"

"You could say that. Mrs hertz is possessed and after Odd. I'm going to help."

"No wait, we might need you here. Odd will be fine," Jeremie replied, examining the number of krabes surrounding Ulrich and Aelita.

"But— ok. I'm coming." She hung up and Jeremie filled the others in.

"What's wrong Jeremie? Don't think we can take out these pests by ourselves?" Ulrich asked. "Triplicate!"

"I don't want to take any chances. You know how bad-tempered Mrs Hertz can get," he typed in a few more codes.

Aelita laughed, "A sea of seafood, Odd would have loved it."

"Are you kidding? I don't think I could stand another mission with him giving them stupid names," Ulrich jumped on top of a Krabe and stabbed his saber deep into its shell.

6 Krabes in all, crowded up the canyons in the desert sector, where the tower was located. 5 to go.

"Ouch!" Aelita tumbled across the desert ground.

"You just lost 10 life points," Jeremie informed.

"No sweat," Ulrich assured, and with the uttering of a classic catchphrase, he super sprinted at another Krabe, serpentining to avoid rapid-firing lasers. With ease and skill, he sliced two of the krabe's legs clean off at the knee, leaving easy access to the target.

Meanwhile, behind him, Aelita used her powers of manipulation over the sector to create a hole under another Krabe, making it fall to its doom. It wasn't long until they disposed of the other two, though some life points were inevitably lost in the process.

• • •

Back at the school, Yumi didn't fancy listening to what she had been told. May as well give Odd a minute of rest right? Besides, they could probably trap Mrs Hertz somewhere since she was possessed, and it wasn't just a polymorphic clone that took her shape.

Her phone still in hand, she dialed Odd's number.

"I'm not having a tea party over here!" He yelled to her.

"Where are you?"

"Science building, second lap," he panted.

"Can you lead her to the boiler room? I've got an ide—" her voice was cut off abruptly.

"Yumi! Hello! Are you there?! Yumi?!"


	5. A shocking experience

Yumi's cell phone flew across the park, and shattered against a tree. What she had been too ignorant to notice before was the fact that Mrs Hertz wasn't the only victim of XANA's corruption.

Right in the middle of her lovely conversation, Yumi had been violently tackled by none other than her favourite (and only) History teacher, Mr Fumet.

She was tossed to the ground, disoriented and surprised, but she saw the signs in his eyes.

With an evil cackle, the teacher lifted his hand and sent a couple hundred-thousand volts shooting through his student. Upon stopping the electricity flow, Yumi hit the ground running. But no matter. XANA was one to toy with them, before finishing the job.

• • •

"YUMI!" Odd yelled one more time into his cell. Meanwhile, unpredictable bursts of electricity were shot at him by an increasingly angry teacher. "Oh to heck with this," he tossed his cell back into his pocket. He had had quite enough of this game of tag, and besides, he figured he knew what Yumi had been suggesting.

Spontaneously, he turned into the dorm building, throwing off Mrs Hertz, and giving Odd a tiny bit more time. Within a split second, he had run in, pulled off his shoe, chucked it into the boiler room, and kept going up the stairs until he was around the corner.

By the time mrs Hertz ran in, Odd had just barely ducked out of view, and the only thing to be heard was the clattering and clanking of who-knows-what crashing to the ground in responce to the stylish yellow skateboard shoe. Frankly, XANAfied people usually aren't too bright, therefore easy to fool, but Odd held his breath none the less.

Mrs Hertz took the bait, and Odd was down like a streak of light to slam the door closed and push a conveniently placed metal cabinet against the door. Mrs Hertz was on it in a second, thrashing to get the door open, but unfortunately for her, just a second too late.

Panting hard to try and catch his breath, Odd quickly pulled out his cell and hit a number he had smartly put on speed dial. "Jeremie!"

"What is it? Where's Yumi?"

"Your guess, is as good as mine. Just, trapped Mrs Hertz in, boiler room," Odd explained between breaths. "She's the attack."

"I know. We might need back up here. I'll keep you posted."

" 'Kay. I'm gonna go try and find Yu— uh oh," Odd looked up to see Jim coming into the hallway opposite the boiler room, and approaching him at top speed, XANAfied and all.

"What?! Odd! What's going on!?"

"Can't talk now, it's not just Mrs Hertz. It's all the teachers!" Odd yelled, dodging a lightning fast side kick, and hanging up.

He quickly picked up a broom and kicked off the brush part, spinning it like a staff. "Finally. I've been waiting for a fight."

• • •

"Alright guys, you heard him. Get going!" Jeremie told them back in the lab.

"Sorry Jeremie, the pedal's already to the medal," Ulrich informed, both him and Aelita speeding through the canyons on the overbike, kicking copious amounts of virtual sand into the air.

"Seems like the wait is almost over, look!"Aelita pointed as they finally exited the canyons. The activated tower stood not far away, but the body guards were impressive. William stood there, sword drawn, surrounded by a couple of megatanks and a swarm of hornets.

"Whooee! Get a load of those beasties!" Ulrich sized 'em up.

"Do you think you can take them?" Jeremie asked, despite his better judgement.

"Sure!" Ulrich replied confidently.

"But we wouldn't mind some back up just in case," Aelita added.

Jeremie nodded. "Go for it."

They sped up, Ulrich revving the engine as they drove directly for William and the monsters. As the megatanks popped open and charged up their shots, Aelita swiped open her wings and took to the air, starting to shoot the hornets that approached her, and one of the megatanks.

Ulrich jumped off the overbike, sending it at William and nearly running him over, but it ended up crashing into the tower behind. Ulrich and William immediately engaged in sword fight, except Ulrich also had to dodge the megatank's laser walls.

The battle was over all futile, because whenever Ulrich would take a swing at William that almost, or did hit him, the megatank would take a couple of shots at Ulrich, at which point he would focus on dodging those, which is when William tried to hit him. It was useless, and only two against one because XANA knew that it was the only way to actually wear Ulrich down. See, if it had been just William, or just the megatank, they would have been blown to smithereens by now, curtesy of Ulrich and his sabers.

Although, said samurai was getting tired of the games, so he took a chance and seized the opportunity, javelin-throwing one of his swords at the megatank. With some luck it landed directly on the target, and the megatank exploded.

Ulrich smirked evily at William, or more specifically XANA. "Now it's just you and me." But before he could begin beating him to a pulp, the second megatank came out of nowhere and shot straight at Ulrich, devirtualizing him as William cackled some more.

Ulrich grunted, punching the scanner on his way out.

"Ulrich! No!" Aelita gasped, taking a surprise hit from a hornet, which sent her tumbling from the sky.

"Aelita!" Jeremie stared at the computer desperately for answers. "Are you ok? Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," Aelita replied, not as loud or clear. She had landed, not so gently, on the top cliffs of the canyons, and was undetected for the moment. The monsters probably figured she was all out of life points, little did they know she wasn't, not quite yet.

"Don't move," Jeremie turned away from the computer to the opening elevator. "Ulrich, go back to the school. Tell Odd to get a move on and get over here."

"So you're saying use myself as bate?" Ulrich asked.

"If you have to. And if you can scare up Yumi on the way, even better."

Ulrich nodded, slapping the button and letting the elevator close.

Jeremie readjusted his glasses and turned back to the computer. "Hang in there. Odd's on the way."

A/N:

Sorry! I totally forgot to update yesterday! Because of that, I might do 2 chapters today. _Might_.

Also, about what I said last chap, I was being kinda harsh. For people who are reviewing, thank you. My creativity is fueled by feedback, and all I want to say to the people that I don't get a chance to message, is thanks. It means a lot to me. That being said, is amazing and you should all get it.


	6. Karma: good and bad

A/N:

Thanks for the reviews! You guys are the best! Btw, I am currently about halfway through the sequel to this story, and if you guys have any cool ideas for hilarious vampire antics (or any other ones for that matter) that I could include, please share, either by review or pm. Thanks again!

On with the fic...

When Ulrich got to the school it was completely empty, or at least the courtyard was. He circled around until he heard suspicious noises, and his hunch was confirmed when Odd was sent skidding on his back along the ground, stopping right at Ulrich's feet. "Need some help?"

Odd looked up, thankful to see a familiar face. "Nah, we were just getting acquainted."

"Well tough luck because you're needed on Lyoko," Ulrich said, pulling his friend up to avoid some lightning that flew from Jim's fingertips.

"How could I refuse?" He passed his slightly scorched staff to Ulrich with best wishes. "Here."

"Any sign of Yumi?" Ulrich asked as Odd started running to the sewer.

"No, last I heard she just left her classroom. Oh by the way Mrs Hertz is trapped in the boiler room so..." he gave a shrug and ran off.

_Gee_, thought Ulrich, engaging in battle with Jim. _That's reassuring._

• • •

Maybe five minutes later, Odd appeared, panting in the elevator.

"Finally! Get down to the scanner room," Jeremie called.

"No appreciation these days," he shook his head jokingly.

"I'll be thankful when the tower's deactivated," Jeremie replied as the door closed and Odd descended to the scanner room.

"Scanner Odd. Transfer Odd. Virtualisation."

Odd landed gracefully on his overboard and sped over to Aelita, who was laying low and spying on the enemies. Odd hopped off. "What's on the menu?"

"A megatank, four hornets and William," Aelita informed.

Odd pondered the situation for a second. "Jeremie, we haven't heard from Yumi for a while and this might not be the _simplest_ battle," Odd began to suggest,

"That's right, we need to make sure she's ok," Aelita jumped on the band wagon. "Remember, if anyone dies—"

"The return to the past won't reverse it, I know. I'll see what I can do, meanwhile, you guys got to get past those monsters," Jeremie typed in some stuff and a window popped up and stared calling Ulrich.

"Please tell me you're about to deactivate the tower," Ulrich answered the phone.

"Eh, no. Any chance you can look around for Yumi?"

"I'd love to, but Jim is keeping me occupied. Uh-oh."

"What?!"

"Mrs Hertz just broke out of the boiler room and she doesn't look happy."

" 'Kay. Hang in there," Jeremie hung up. "Listen guys, you got to speed this up. There's still no word from Yumi and Ulrich's swamped."

"Do you think we're doing this for fun Jeremie?" Asked Aelita, throwing energy fields at a pesky hornet.

"Yeah, it isn't exactly a piece of cake here," Odd dodged blows from William's honking big sword.

What to do, what to do. Jeremie's mind spun around in circles like a caged animal until he figured it out. There WAS one way to find out if Yumi was ok. "Guys, do you think you'd be ok on your own for a while?"

"What are you thinking?" Aelita sounded a little worried.

"To go find Yumi. Good luck guys!" Jeremie set down the Bluetooth and entered the elevator. The only way to find out where she was was to find her himself. And she had better not be too beat up by the specters either.

"Jeremie! Jeremie!" Aelita called.

"Forget it, we're on our own," Odd could tell it was futile.

She knew this was probably true, and focused her efforts on the remaining 2 hornets and megatank. Meanwhile, Odd had his hands full with William, shooting and jumping and blocking and starting over.

• • •

Uh-oh. Ulrich's gut told him this wasn't going to end well. One XANAfied person he could handle. 3? Er, not so much.

It all happened like a blur, but somehow, Jim and Mrs Hertz were there, then suddenly Mr Fumet appeared, also XANAfied. The three of them easily overtook Ulrich, now had him cornered, and were looming over him ominously with fists rased, aglow in purple electricity. Ulrich wondered if he would get out of this in one piece. He honestly questioned whether or not he would survive. But that's when they came.

Out of the blue, Ulrich's intirely class (minus the ones on lyoko and Jeremie) appeared, lead by none other than Sissi. Sticks and other blunt instruments in hand, they literally tackled Mrs Hertz.

It all happened so suddenly, Ulrich was standing there in shock as they stated after Fumet too. But while nobody was looking, Jim bolted off into the unknown.

"What are you guys doing here? What is going on?" Ulrich inquired urgently.

"I could ask you the same thing," Sissi reminded. "All I know is that Odd rescued us from Mrs Hertz, so we're retuning the favor."

"Wow, thanks," Ulrich was at a slight loss for words. "Hey, where did Jim go?"

"Shut up and help us!" Heidi yelled from the small crowd of kids surrounding Mr Fumet, trying to tame his wild electricity.

• • •

Deep in the forest, hidden in the hollow middle of a bush, Yumi tried to take deep breaths. Fumet had followed her, and when she couldn't run anymore he caught her and electrocuted her, over and over again. It was like having the life sucked right out of you.

Huh, he must have thought she was dead, or near death at least, which is probably why he left. When she had gathered up some strength she hid in the bush, hoping he didn't come back for her, and that of she hid, he wouldn't find her. Now, she had a few minutes of silence.

XANA, as Jim, had fled the scene where Ulrich and the class were kicking butt, and was now wandering the forest when he heard a gentle coughing coming from somewhere. XANA immediately knew it was Yumi, so he devised an ingenious plan. Clearing Jim's throat, he spoke in Odd's voice, "Yumi! Are you there? They need us on Lyoko."

Yumi was releived to hear a friendly voice, and so crept out of her hiding place as carefully as she could with a limp, looking around for her friend.

Jim stepped out from behind a tree (big, big tree) and grabbed onto her. "So sorry Yumi," he said again with Odd's voice, almost tauntingly and clamped his hands down on her neck.

Her eyes rolled upwards as she was lifted off the ground, gasping for breath. She struggled, kicking at him and trying to pry his hands off, but nothing worked. Black spots began clouding her vision, and the struggle lessened.

Out of nowhere, suddenly Jeremie charged at them, baseball bat in hand. He sprinted to them and swung across as hard as he could, hitting Jim in the back of the head, and making him fall down immideately like a sack of potatoes.

Jeremie clumsily caught Yumi as she fell, and helped her to her feet, letting her catch her breath.

But the trouble wasn't over yet. A specter, the one that formerly possessed Jim, leaked out of his ear.

"Come on, quick," Jeremie tried to hurry Yumi.

"Run! It's not after me," she reminded. She and the others had built up a resistance to possession through going to Lyoko, but Jeremie was still as vulnerable as ever. "Run!"

He took off, knowing the specter was right behind him, and also knowing that he couldn't outrun it. Their only chance now was if the others could get the tower deactivated.

• • •

Back on Lyoko, Aelita had just conquered the elusive megatank, and had one more hornet left, while Odd was still struggling with William.

"Energy field!" Aelita shot and destroyed the last hornet and after considering the situation, desided to make a break for the tower.

Odd shot plenty arrows, which usually got deflected off William's sword, then he kicked Odd, to the ground. Had it not been for his trusty shield, Odd would have been sliced in two by now.

William hacked away, destroying the shield, and just as he was about to administer the lethal blow, Odd looked over at something and laughed. William followed his gaze and spun his head around just in time to see Aelita enter the tower.

"You loose William," Odd smirked, which is when William vented his anger on him and Odd started to devirtualize.

Aelita entered the tower, her sprint turning into a walk, and she floated up the familiar tower.

At the same time, in the forest, Jeremie tripped, giving the specter more than an opportunity to pounce on him, forcing itself into his mouth and down his throat.

Doing a quick flip, Aelita landed on the platform and put her hand against the interface, impatiently waiting for it to spell out her name.

Jeremie cringed and closed his eyes, trying not to let XANA corrupt his brain, but unfortunately the virus was adept at possessing people.

Her name appeared on the screen followed by the word CODE.

Trying to fight it in vain, Jeremie stopped fighting, because Jeremie wasn't himself anymore. His eyes popped open, with bright black XANA signs flashing in them.

CODE: LYOKO_


	7. Story of a vampire

The return trip to the past was preprogrammed, and started instantly upon the tower being deactivated. Everyone and everything was smothered in a white haze and the day started up again.

Unfortunately most of the morning did not contain anything of great intrest, so the author just decided to skip to lunch break, later that day, when the warriors were gathered in the cafeteria, discussing their day.

"That was some attack today, huh?" Ulrich dug into his hamburger.

"I'll say. It got pretty rough," Yumi nodded.

"You're telling me," Odd agreed.

"Oh, by the way Odd, good call rescuing the class. They came back and helped out later," Ulrich mentioned.

"Oh yeah? That's cool."

"Yeah, I might not be here right now if they hadn't shown up," he admitted.

"Mmmhmm, I got pretty beat up too, luckily Jeremie was there," Yumi recalled. "Although I was pretty amazed at how hard you swung that bat at Jim. I though I heard some cracks, at the time I figured maybe you fractured his scull."

"Hey! Nice job Einstein," Odd congratulated with a high five. "Welcome to the daredevil heroes club."

"Thanks, but it was nothing, really. I'm just glad we all live to fight another day."

• • •

Night fell and a couple of knocks came to Aelita's door, accompanied by a voice easily recognizable. "Can I come in?"

Aelita, sitting curled up on the bed with a book, looked up to see Jeremie lingering in the doorway and laughed. More to see what would happen than out of spite, she replied, "No."

"Too bad," he shrugged and came in anyways.

"Hey, how did you do that?" She looked at him curiously, and put down the book. "Or is that one of the fakes?"

"No, it's true. You've just invited me into your room before, so I can come and go as I please," he explained.

"Oh," she nodded.

"Listen, I just wanted to tell you something about today's attack," he closed the door behind him. "Just before you deactivated the tower, XANA was about to possess me. That can never happen." He spoke in a serious tone.

"Why not?"

"Because. If XANA possesses me, he will use me to his advantage and half the kids at Kadic will wake up with bite-marks. It would be a disaster. That's why, I wanted to let you know, that if XANA does possess me and somebody is in danger because of it, you can kill me."

"What!?"

"I'm not kidding."

"And I'm not killing you!"

"I could be used as a weapon, probably pretty usefull to XANA, so if I am a danger, I need you to kill me."

Aelita's jaw hung open.

"I don't know if a gun will work, or a sword, but wooden stakes can kill anybody, especially vampires. I keep one in the bottom drawer of the desk in my room, if you need to find one quickly."

"No." It was unthinkable to Aelita.

"I'm just saying, IF there's any danger, you know where to find it."

"No." She could hardly believe he was even saying this. "You might have, sucked my blood, but that's no excuse for you to be killed."

"I'm just saying IF."

"But there won't BE an if."

"But if there IS an if, then—"

"Then we'll find a way around it."

Jeremie sighed. There was no beating Aelita when she was determined.

The moment of silence was broken by a question, "Jeremie, aren't you already dead?"

"Um, yes and no. I'm not really sure. I mean obviously I'm alive, but I just don't know whether I'm alive again, or still. I know it sounds really weird."

"So I did some reading on the Internet, about vampires, and—"

"Not everything you read on the net is true," He reminded.

"I know, but it said something here about how vampires sometimes belong to groups, called covens. So I was wondering, are there any more of you at Kadic that I should be aware of?"

"No. None. I would know if there was."

"Why, do you have stronger senses? I also read somewhere that you have increased agility and speed, is that true too?"

"If it is, I haven't felt it."

"What about Jim?"

"What ABOUT Jim?"

"Yumi said you might have fractured his skull. In my experience you have to pack a pretty powerful punch to do that," Aelita told him.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't really matter, that never happened."

"Yeah, I guess." There was a light silence, until Aelita decided to hazard a few more questions. "How old are you?"

He smirked, " I think I'm on 21, or 22 years. It's funny to think that you and I were born around the same time, probably same year, but you were in Lyoko for almost 10 years, and I stopped aging almost 10 years ago."

"Are you ever going to get older?"

"I don't know, I think I might. But it'll take longer, if it ever happens."

"So, how did it happen?"

"You mean how did I become a vampire?"

She nodded.

"Well, it all started a long time ago, a couple cities south from here. My parents and I were driving somewhere, probably the grocery shop or something. I don't really remember what happened, but I think there was a deer on the road, so my dad swerved to avoid it, unfortunately he didn't notice the car coming in from the other lane. It was a head on crash, the car was so wreaked..." he trailed off.

"Your parents?" Aelita asked gently.

He sighed. "They're alive. When the car crashed we were all knocked out, and the next thing I know I was in a small cabin with a lot less blood, and this guy staring down at me, Richard, I think his name was. That was the vampire that turned me. He claimed not to have any idea I was still alive, but I figured it didn't change anything. He was just looking for an easy supply of blood and there I was. Out of pity, he let me stay the night, but the next morning I woke up in the middle of the forest with nothing more than a small knife with no sign of the cabin, or Richard."

"What did you do?" Aelita was completely captivated by the story.

"My first instinct was to try and find my parents, or anyone, and get back to them. But as I traveled through the forest, the symptoms started showing up, and I soon found out what I had become. When I finally got to civilization, I just couldn't go to my parents. I couldn't bare the thought of what I was, and them having to live with it, so I left. They deemed me dead, so I fled east, almost to the border, and tried to start a new life there. Ever since then I've been traveling around. At first it was that somebody found out, or the teachers got suspicious of why my parents never showed up for conferences, but then I came across here. I thought to myself, a boarding school, perfect. And I think I made the right decision," Jeremie smiled at Aelita.

A/N:

I know, a little mushy at the end, but after all, we all want to know how Jeremie became a supernatural creature, right? Hope you liked it!


	8. Unknown intentions

Jeremie knew it had been risky, but he needed to warn her, and he was glad he did it. But now his walk was turning into a run as he neared his room, and when he darted in, he went straight for the closet. Ripping open the bottom drawer, his hands latched onto the small container. He unscrewed the lid almost in a panic, and swallowed five of the little white pills.

Taking a deep breath he examined the cylindrical container. 6 pills left. He was cutting it close.

• • •

The next day at the dinner table they all discussed their plans for the glorious Sunday ahead, including Yumi who was allowed to stay at the school for dinner.

"I'm probably gonna lay low, watch some movies at home. Any of you who want to are free to come, and you're all invited," Yumi assured.

"Cool," Odd cheered.

"Sounds like a good offer," Aelita added. "I might just stop by."

"Please do, or else Hiroki and Johnny might just drive me insane."

"Hasn't worked before, why would it now?" Ulrich asked.

"They have their ways," She warned.

"What about you Jeremie? What are you doing tomorrow?" Odd asked their silent friend.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm going to see my grandparents for the day," He replied, seeming to be snapped out of a daydream. "They live in Paris, so I'm going to be there for the day."

That can't be right, thought Aelita. If he hasn't made contact with his parents, why would he be going to see his grandparents? Unless, he wasn't actually going to see his grandparents. So what was he going to do in Paris? And why did he lie about it?

"Sounds neat," Odd said. "Unlike for my plans. I'm probably just gonna be gaming again. Same old, same old."

"Yeah, but you'll still never beat my high score," Ulrich teased.

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?" Odd started getting into it.

Yumi rolled her eyes. "With you guys it's always the same. I'm the best at this, you can't beat me at that," she sighed.

"Well that's because it's true," Odd explained.

"Yeah, Odd really can't beat me at that," Ulrich smirked.

"Yes I can!"

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"Can't!"

"Can!"

• • •

The next morning, Jeremie got up at the normal school time and caught a bus to Paris, from where he followed a series of side walks until finally he stopped, in the middle of a dark alley. He checked his watch, 8:59. Right on time.

As the hour changed on his watch, a dark silloet entered the alley and neared Jeremie from behind, looking sinister, in a calm kind of way.

"You got what I want?" Jeremie asked, turning around to face the guy. He didn't need super human senses to hear the footsteps.

A scruffy voice answered. "That depends, have you got the money?"

Jeremie pulled $500 out of his pocket, all in $20 bills, and showed it to the guy, who tried to snatch it out of his hand, but Jeremie's reflexes were too fast. "I held up my end of the bargain, now it's your turn."

"Eh, no can do. The shipment won't be in 'till next Sunday," the guy spoke with an accent, the kind an American gangster would have.

"That's too long. I need it now," Jeremie's voice never wavered.

He shrugged. "But, if you pay me, say 10% up front, I'll make it Friday."

"How about Wednesday?"

"Impossible. Friday at the earliest."

"Forget it." Jeremie was out of options.

"Sunday then?" The guy asked.

"Fine. I'll be here," he replied and slid the dough safely back into his pocket, leaving the alley. "Inform me if there are any developments."

"Understood."

Jeremie's mind tossed and turned vigorously as he left the alley onto the street and began walking. This was a problem. A big problem. He was down to two pills, and those were supposed to last him the week. It would never work. But it had to work. He knew what would happen if it didn't. And that couldn't happen again.

• • •

Upon leaving the dark lane, Jeremie went to a little cafe and bought an early lunch, and after that basically just wasted some time. No sense in arousing suspicion by coming back to Kadic early, when he was supposed to be with grandparents.

• • •

When Jeremie finally bused back to school around dinner time, he was met at the school gates by a certain someone with pink hair. "Hey. How were your grandparents?"

"What?" It took Jeremie a second to realize what she was talking about. "Oh, yeah. Th-their fine."

She frowned. "What were you really doing?"

"It's a long story. I better get to my dorm," he rushed past her, not wanting to continue the topic.

"But Jeremie!" she called.

"See you later Aelita!" He replied, not looking back.

A/N:

Ok, so maybe I won't update everyday. It's hard when you have school, and extra programs and such. In all honesty I really should be doing my math homework right now, but I wanted to squeeze another chapter in, so I hope you guys liked it! Please review, because that is my soft spot.


	9. The dark secret

About half an hour later, the gang was at the dinner table slurping down spaghetti, all except for Yumi who was at home, which was ok because Odd was doing enough slurping to cover for all of them.

"Would you stop that?" Steam was shooting out of Ulrich's ears.

"Stop what?" he asked with a mouthful of noodles and a face-ful of tomato sauce.

Ulrich groaned.

"So how was your guys' day?" Aelita asked casually, twirling her fork in the pile of noodles.

"Fine," Ulrich scoffed.

Odd exclaimed some gibberish with a full mouth, and continued after swallowing. "It was awesome! I totally destroyed Ulrich on the Xbox today."

"Listen, just because you won a couple of rounds does not mean you destroyed me, ok?"

"Pfft, you're just in denial. You can't handle the great and awesome power of the one and only Odd." He was his own adoring fan club.

"No, what I can't handle is your ego." Ulrich sighed and turned to Aelita. "How were the movies?"

"Pretty good, and the boys for the most part stayed out of our hair," she recalled.

"What about you Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"How were the grandparents?" Odd inquired.

He cleared his throat. "They were fine. Although they were a little surprised when I wanted to go to the science part of the museum."

"Hehe, it's your Einstein-like sixth sense acting up again," Odd joked.

"Yeah, I guess. Here, have my garlic bread," Jeremie pushed the plate over.

Odd swallowed some more spaghetti. "What's wrong? Are you a vampire or something?"

Aelita suddenly started choking on her food.

• • •

"Jeremie," Aelita knocked on the door to his room. It was about 9 pm, their usual meeting time, to start working on the materialization program, or what not, but today there was no answer, and the door was locked. "Jeremie?"

Maybe he was asleep?— Who was she kidding? He said himself he couldn't get to sleep very well, especially this early.

Aelita took a deep breath and tried to talk some sense into herself, and the situation. Maybe Jeremie was just out. But to where? Paris again? Fat chance.

He was probably in there, just playing dead for some reason. But the question is, why?

After another minute, Aelita gave up. Either he really was out of the room, or he was there pretending to be, and either way he wouldn't let her in. She intended on finding out what this was all about, and what was going on, but she would do it tomorrow.

Aelita went back to her room and lay down on the bed, but all she fell into was an unsettling, dreamless sleep.

• • •

When she awoke in the morning, she felt drowsy but determined.

Later in the courtyard, Aelita was chatting with her pals, having a discussion about one of the movies she and Yumi had watched yesterday, when Jeremie walked past. He was holding a small pile of books and looking like he took extra precautions to make sure he looked busy. The others waved, and he waved back, but not to Aelita.

In class, it was the same story. Aelita tried to focus, but her thoughts and her eyes kept being drawn to Jeremie. She was getting more and more anxious to find out what was going on.

On the other side of the classroom, Jeremie didn't take his eyes off the board, trying to look like he was paying attention. In all honesty, his mind was a nervous wreak, and he was pretty close to chewing his nails.

Finally, during the lunch break, Aelita caught him in the halls.

"Hey," She greeted, with a tone that wasn't her usual happy one.

"Oh, hi," He replied nervously.

"I was just wondering what you were doing yesterday night. I stopped by your dorm, but I guess you weren't there," She waited for him to give an explaination.

"Uh, yeah, I, um—"

Just then Odd came over and started walking with them too. "I hope I'm not intruding, but—"

"No, not at all," Jeremie tried to hide the relief in his voice. "What's up?"

"Oh not much I was just hoping you could help me with his one equation, I don't quite get it," He began to explain, and the two of them started walking off in the opposite direction.

"Odd," Aelita called.

"Yeah?" He turned back around.

"Be careful," she reminded, glancing at Jeremie, who shot a disappointment look back.

"Pfft," Odd replied, a smile lighting up his face again. "See you later."

A/N:

I don't really have much to say today— except thanks for the stellar reviews! But beyond that, there's not much else, so I'm not going to waste words on my lack of current imagination. Bye.


	10. Ultimate choice

**A/N:**

**Sorry guys, I feel like I've been abandoning you! It's just this drawing contest, it's eating up all my spare time.**

**So anyways, this is the last chapter, as you mayfor may not have guessed. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, faveded, and followed, and thanks for taking time out of your day to read my story. You guys all rock.**

**About the sequel, yes there's going to be one, most likely called The Little Vampire 2: _(insert something)_. Hope you take a look, it's going to be less kinda horror, and more humor, which is always pretty awesome.**

**Ok, gonna shut up now, I've gone on long enough. ON WITH THE FIC...**

It was too much. It was eating Aelita alive. She had to know. And that's why, just after a silent dinner with no eye-contact, she snuck into his room. She knew he would no-doubt lock her out again if she didn't do something. And now, all she had to do was wait a couple minutes.

From behind the door, she saw him come in, and kick the door closed promptly. Now was the time to stop lurking in the shadows. She spoke between a whisper and normal volume, "Hello Jeremie."

Upon seeing her he jumped back almost 10 feet. "A-Aelita! You need to go."

"It's ok," she came out of her little corner. "I just want to know what's going on. You've been avoiding me, and that trip to Paris. Why would you visit your grandparents if you don't even visit your parents?"

"Please, just go now, please," he backed up right into his desk.

"What is it? Are you ok?" she was starting to get worried.

"No," he put a hand against the desk to steady himself.

"What's going on? Please tell me, I want to help," Aelita wasn't sure whether to take a step forward or a step back.

"Ok, listen, I'll tell you, but you have to promise to leave, right afterwards, and ignore me for the rest of the week, ok?" His limbs shook a little, and he looked like he was about to collapse.

"Ok, deal," She replied. "No more secrets."

"You remember the night when you asked me about the blood?" His voice was rushed, and nervous.

She nodded.

"And I said that it tasted good, and then you asked me about yours and I didn't reply?"

"Yeah," she nodded again.

"Do you want to know the truth? What I was really thinking right then and there?" Jeremie sounded like he was going more and more delirious with every passing second.

"Yes." Aelita replied definatelly.

"At that moment, I didn't want to tell you what I was thinking, because I knew you'd be scared, I knew you would loose the little trust you had in me. You asked if yours tasted good, did I like yours. Yes, I did." His eyes closed, as if he was savouring the taste, and his fangs began to lengthen. "After a year of toughing it out, a year of not drinking, your blood was like nothing I ever tasted before. Sweet, and warm, i-it was amazing. And ever since then I've been dreading every time I see you. Dreading knowing that it was your blood that made me feel alive, and knowing I would never taste it again, it was driving me insane." He looked into her eyes, "Every time I look at you, it's like this mad feeling comes over me. It's like the animal inside me just wants to take over, but I can't let it happen." His fangs retracted.

"Ever since I stopped drinking, I've been taking these pills, like the special gum for people who quit smoking. Usually one or two per week will do, but after I drank your blood, I couldn't control myself, and the pills started running out, because I was taking so many at a time. That's why I lied about seeing my grandparents, I was trying to get more. Only, the shipment won't be in until Friday, and I don't know if I can overcome these impulses for the rest of the week. That's why I can't be around you. Or else something's going to happen, I'll do something I regret, and you would be in danger." He stood there, panting, staring at her. Finally having told her everything, all his cards on the table, now there were no more secrets.

He eventually broke the gaze, kneeling down to rummage through the closet drawer in search of the capsule. "You need to go."

Aelita put her hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn it. Maybe..? There was still a deciscion to make. But she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. How much did she really care about Jeremie? She didn't have any time for thinking. She had to act. She was either all the way, or nothing, and it was too late for nothing.

By now Jeremie was unscrewing the lid of his little bottle, containing the last white pill.

Now or never Aelita.

"Wait," she said, letting her hand slide off the knob.

Jeremie stopped and looked up at her. "What?"

"Y-you, you can drink, my blood." Aelita forced the words out.

His fangs immediately extended, and his face said something different than his words. "Aelita, please, don't say that. You need to go, now."

"I'm serious. You need blood right? Y-you can drink mine." She pulled a brave face.

"No," Jeremie tried to stop himself, but ever inch of his body was telling him to go. "Don't do this, go, now!"

"It's ok Jeremie, this is my choice," She smiled at him, even though on the inside she was still frightened. "If blood is what you need, you can take mine."

"A-Aelita, if you choose this, I can't promise you will be safe from me," his eyes burned with an intensity.

"I trust you," she said, almost in a whisper.

He couldn't control himself any longer. He didn't want her to do this, but it WAS her choice, and part of him was thankful that she had chosen it. So, slowly and carefully, he set the container down on the desk, and went.

In an instant he was on her, arms clasped around her shoulders. She sat down on his bed, to steady herself, and as he leaned closer, before he bit into her, he whispered into her ear. "Thank you." And then sunk his eager fangs into the side of her neck, and let the drinking ensue.


End file.
